Reincarnated as a Ginkgo Tree: I Create an Eternal Divine Kingdom - Chapter 1

In this Wilderness and ancient land, beasts roam freely, making it a forbidden zone for human cultivators since time immemorial.

“What’s going on?”

Su Mu’s mind was groggy, filled with confusion and uncertainty. He was from Blue Star, where he succumbed to a terminal illness due to overwork and ultimately died.

He should have been dead, so how could he still have consciousness? What was even more bizarre was that he found his perspective to be strangely distorted. It seemed to spread out in all directions, centered on himself.

Focusing his attention, Su Mu saw his own body.

Amidst the dim and Wilderness forest stood a thirty-foot tall, ordinary-looking ginkgo tree. As the mountain wind blew, its leaves fluttered.

“A ginkgo tree? I’ve turned into a ginkgo tree.”

Su Mu was shocked.

If someone else had become a ginkgo tree, they would likely feel despair. After all, a ginkgo tree cannot move, and for an intelligent being, this is usually a dreadful experience.

But Su Mu felt fortunate. He had long grown accustomed to being unable to move. When he was terminally ill, he had been bedridden for over three years. Each day, he endured inhuman torture, and eventually, he died.

Now, not only was he alive, but he no longer had to suffer. He felt immensely grateful.

“But it seems I’m not that lucky after all.”

Roar!

A wild boar was traversing the forest, passing by thirty feet away from Su Mu. As it charged, it shattered another ginkgo tree that stood thirty feet away, right in front of Su Mu. This made Su Mu feel as if he had glimpsed his own future.

Just as he was filled with fear, a translucent floating panel appeared in his vision.

[Species: Ginkgo]
[Height: 30 feet]
[Lifespan: 10 years]
[Abilities: None]

The panel was extremely simple and offered no explanation. To learn more, Su Mu would evidently need to explore it himself.

“Only 10 years of lifespan?”

A normal ginkgo tree’s lifespan is far longer than that. Su Mu could sense that the surrounding air was rather unusual; it seemed toxic to trees, drastically reducing his lifespan.

“But there’s an ability column, which means I can evolve. I just don’t know how to acquire abilities.”

For a moment, Su Mu was filled with anticipation for the future.

“My consciousness is quite strange; I can sense my own tree body.”

Su Mu pondered. After a moment, he sensed something more. He discovered that he could somehow tap into his life force, his lifespan.

Recalling some memories from his past life, Su Mu began to experiment. For instance, he mentally commanded his lifespan to flow into his tree body, but nothing happened.

“Maybe my lifespan is too short to enhance my entire body.”

Su Mu speculated. He then stopped focusing on his whole body and instead concentrated on a single leaf.

“Infuse.”

The next moment, as Su Mu willed it, a barely detectable white light appeared, merging into the leaf he was focused on.

“It really works.”

Su Mu was overjoyed. Unfortunately, as a tree, he couldn’t express his emotions. At the same time, Su Mu clearly felt the leaf he infused with lifespan beginning to change.

He wasn’t sure of the exact change. He only knew that after about thirty breaths, he could sense the leaf more clearly. It was as if the leaf had become his fingertip.

Normally, a tree cannot control its own body. But now, Su Mu could sense that he could control this leaf.

What happened next confirmed Su Mu’s suspicion. With just a thought, the leaf moved according to his will.

Su Mu felt a surge of excitement. He had already considered it fortunate to be alive, even if it meant being a tree unable to move. But if he could move, it would undoubtedly be even better.

“And I feel like this leaf holds some extraordinary power.”

Su Mu immediately controlled the leaf to slash at the tree in front of him.

Rip!

A sharp sound pierced the air. A nearby elm tree was struck by the leaf. To Su Mu’s astonishment, a deep two-inch cut appeared on the elm tree, shockingly prominent.

“This…”

Su Mu was stunned. If he were still human, he would be gasping in shock right now. The leaf’s cutting power was even more terrifying than a steel blade. If it struck a human or a beast, the result would be unimaginable.

“Too bad that wild boar ran away earlier, or I could have tried it out.”

Su Mu felt a strong sense of security. With this leaf, he now had some means of self-defense. He no longer had to worry about being casually killed by a wild beast. This also piqued Su Mu’s interest in observing his surroundings further.

As a ginkgo tree, he couldn’t move. This area would be his home for the rest of his life. Naturally, the more familiar he was with it, the better.

“There’s something odd about the trees around here.”

After observing for a while, Su Mu felt something was amiss. The surrounding trees were towering, often hundreds of feet high, requiring several people to embrace them fully. Even the ginkgo trees were astonishingly large.

Normally, ginkgo trees don’t exceed 80 or 90 feet in height. Yet here, Su Mu found many ginkgo trees exceeding 100 or even 200 feet. This scene clearly defied the natural growth patterns of plants.

“Could it be…”

Su Mu thought of his earlier observations. The air in this forest seemed different from what he remembered in his past life. At first, he thought it was a misconception, or perhaps the difference in perception between plants and humans.

But now, Su Mu believed that might not be the case. The air around him contained a strange, gentle element. When these elements were absorbed by his leaves, it made him uncomfortable, like a burning sensation. But after adapting, it gave him a warm feeling.

It was as if warm currents were flowing through his branches. Looking at the status panel again, it had changed.

[Species: Spirit Ginkgo]
[Height: 30 feet]
[Lifespan: 9 years]
[Abilities: One Spirit-Infused Leaf]

Su Mu had indeed only used one year of lifespan. He dared not use too much. After all, he didn’t know how to replenish his lifespan. If he used up too much and died, it would be over. Moreover, his species had changed. He was no longer an ordinary ginkgo tree but a Spirit Ginkgo.

Time passed in the mountains. The sun rose and set, the sky darkened and brightened again. Su Mu began to feel bored. In this state, his consciousness easily became drowsy. After all, he was now just a tree, and didn’t need to work hard like in his previous life. Su Mu relaxed his mind and fell asleep.

He didn’t know how long he slept. Su Mu was suddenly awakened by a sharp pain.

Thud, thud, thud…

Accompanying the pain was a dull, repetitive sound. Su Mu quickly realized that a woodpecker was pecking at him.

“Disturbing my sleep and causing harm?”

Su Mu didn’t hesitate.

Whoosh!

A sound of cutting wind echoed. Su Mu controlled the spirit-infused leaf. The leaf, driving the branch, formed a blur in the air, slashing at the woodpecker with lightning speed.

In the next instant, the woodpecker didn’t even have time to cry out before it was cut into a mist of blood.

Su Mu wasn’t surprised. With the power of the spirit-infused leaf, not to mention a mere woodpecker, even a raptor wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

“Wait.”

At that moment, Su Mu noticed the status panel had changed again.

[Species: Spirit Ginkgo]
[Height: 30 feet]
[Lifespan: 10 years]
[Abilities: One Spirit-Infused Leaf]

He clearly only had 9 years of lifespan left yesterday. But now, he mysteriously had an additional year.

“Could it be…”

The only thing he had done just now was kill the woodpecker. Su Mu immediately grew excited. He seemed to have figured out how to acquire more lifespan.

“Just as the saying goes, ‘Killing brings wealth.’ It seems this principle applies to the plant and animal world as well.”

With this realization, Su Mu became more confident about the future.

The longer he stayed in this world, the more he felt a sense of crisis. Not only was the air unusual in this world, but the plants and beasts were also abnormal. Last night, he “saw” a giant eagle with a wingspan of 30 feet in the sky.

This left a deep psychological shadow on Su Mu. Even an idiot would know that such a gigantic bird couldn’t exist in a normal world. Before he didn’t know how to improve himself, so he had no choice but to accept his fate. But now that he knew how to become stronger, he naturally wanted to do his best.

Su Mu then tried injecting the newly acquired one year of lifespan into another leaf. The leaf also became spirit-infused.

“My lifespan still isn’t enough.”

Su Mu felt a strong desire for more lifespan. Fortunately, the forest was full of insects and birds.

Gradually, Su Mu even figured out a pattern. For instance, when he killed small insects like mosquitoes and flies, each one didn’t even give him a year of lifespan. Ordinary birds, however, could increase his lifespan by one year.

Occasionally, he would encounter so-called “spirit beasts.” During such times, Su Mu would obediently pretend to be an ordinary ginkgo tree, not daring to move at all.

A day passed. Without realizing it, Su Mu had accumulated 10 more years of lifespan. His total lifespan now reached 19 years. He immediately infused 14 of those years into 14 more leaves.

Instantly, Su Mu could control a total of sixteen leaves. Sixteen leaves flashed through the air like lightning. Feeling the tremendous power, Su Mu’s heart surged with excitement. With just one leaf, he had extraordinary power. Now his strength would be even greater.

“I have a total of 500 leaves. If I spirit-infuse them all…”

Just imagining the scene made Su Mu feel delighted.

With sixteen spirit-infused leaves, Su Mu’s hunting efficiency increased significantly. Another day passed. Su Mu gained an additional 15 years of lifespan.

With his strength, he could have hunted even more insects and birds. Unfortunately, the number of insects and birds around him was limited. Each day, there were only so many in his vicinity.

These 15 years of lifespan brought the total number of spirit-infused leaves to thirty-one.

“Caw, caw, caw…”

Suddenly, a piercing cry echoed from above. Su Mu then saw a pair of crows descending from the sky. They seemed to sense something and landed on Su Mu.

Su Mu initially intended to kill them instantly. But then he noticed that one of the crows had a noticeably swollen belly.

“Pregnant?”

This discovery made Su Mu pause and abandon his killing intent. What he didn’t expect was that the pair of crows would start building a nest on him.

Su Mu realized what was happening. Sure enough, by the next day, the two crows had finished building their nest and laid ten crow eggs.

Su Mu found this quite amusing. Although he was eager for more lifespan, he wasn’t desperate for just a few crows. So he decided to let them stay.

In the days that followed, the female crow focused on incubating the eggs. Su Mu continued hunting insects and birds as usual. The pair of crows, sensing Su Mu’s mystical nature and the safety of the area, had no intention of leaving.